Starting a rogue
Introduction So, you're thinking of playing a Rogue? This page is intended to give a short overview of what to do over the first 10 levels or so, just to get you started on the right path. If you're looking for more of an overview of the class's abilities, see the main rogue page. For more advanced topics, see the Rogue Tactics. For a more general overview on starting out playing WoW, see the Newbie Guide Race Selection If you're a serious player, you'll want to consider the various Racial Traits when choosing your race. You might also consider the racial stats, but after the first 20 levels or so these become largely irrelevant, as the items you've gained will far outstrip any racial bonuses. For more information on these, see here. For PvP, a dwarf or an undead rogue is usually the best choice. Stoneform (for dwarves) gets rid of bleed effects, allowing you to escape from a warrior at will, which is a big problem for rogues, and allows you to escape from smarter rogues that use rupture to prevent you from vanishing. Stoneform also removes debuffs like devouring plague and hunter's serpent sting, abilities which also prevent rogues from vanishing (before Cloak of Shadows at level 66. Stoneform has a vast number of uses and is an overlooked ability. Will of the Forsaken and Cannibalize for the undead is essential in PvP, as you can avoid fear and charm, as well as regenerate health from dead bodies. For more casual gamers, there's really no major difference between the races - choose the race that you want to play, whether for its looks, its voice, or because its simply good fun! Early Leveling The easiest way to progress through the early levels is to simply do any and all of the quests you can find. Not only will you breeze through the first 5 to 10 levels, but you'll get useful gear and precious money. Money is particularly important so you can purchase your Rogue Abilities. You will spend levels 1 to 5 in your starting town. Make sure you get all the Rogue Abilities you can from your trainer. Between level 5 and 6 you'll find yourself heading off to your second town and a new trainer who can teach you various things. At the second town, repeat the process - do each and every quest you can find. It's important to keep up with your abilities and your gear. Now is also an appropriate time to start training in your chosen professions. Levels 1 - 3 Rogues start with Sinister Strike, Eviscerate, and Throw. With , you can purchase Stealth. If necessary, use Throw to pull a single mob from a crowd. Levels 4 - 5 At level 4, you can learn Backstab and Pick Pocket, two skills that require the use of Stealth. Before opening combat, enter Stealth and try to Pick Pocket the target. Afterwards, open with Backstab and continue to spam Sinister Strike. (Backstab does not need to be used from stealth. If you are in a group and someone else has aggro, you can get behind and proceed to use backstab. This move can also be used with Gouge, when learned.) Levels 6 - 7 At level 6, you can upgrade Sinister Strike and learn Gouge. Use Gouge to incapacitate your opponents and generate combo points. Notable Early Quests '' The intention is to link into the Quests page here with a few low-level quests once they are added, with particular emphasis on including quests with nice rogue rewards, and any rogue-specific quests. No real need to include the very basic starting quests as everybody will see those easily enough -- Goldark'' The following lists are not intended to be comprehensive, but cover a selection of the best quests in the starting areas from levels 1 to 10. Dwarves/Gnomes * Quest 1 * Quest 2 * etc Humans * Brotherhood of Thieves - nice early dagger reward * Seek out SI:7 - magical dagger for level 10 rogues Night Elves * Ursal the Mauler- Nice main hand axe or mace Orcs/Trolls * The Shattered Hand - Nice dagger Undead * Quest 1 On Soloing and Grouping Soloing For the first 10 levels, the Rogue shouldn't have much trouble soloing up to two mobs at a time around your level. You won't be able to Backstab much when soloing, so the main focus will be on Sinister Strike and Eviscerate. Try to find a high-damage weapon, as this will help more than a weapon with high DPS for hitting those big Sinister Strikes . After level 6, you might start using Gouge to stun your opponent briefly to get behind and do a backstab. This is one of the staple early strategies. Grouping Grouping isn't all that different from soloing. At these levels any class can pretty much look after itself, but be ready to help out a weaker caster class if you see them under attack - always protect your healer! Remember to "assist" the Warrior or Paladin if you have one in your group, to ensure you focus your party's firepower on one mob. You can do this by selecting the tank (use the F1-F5 keys to target group members) and then pressing "F". This way, mobs will die faster. If you don't have a tank in the group, agree amongst yourselves whom to assist. Although its not all that important now, its an important habit to get used to for later levels. Useful Professions The rogue can benefit directly and indirectly from many of the professions available. Primary Professions ; Herbalism & Alchemy : Herbalism and Alchemy are somewhat useful for the rogue, and are essentially two Primary Professions that go hand in hand. Herbalism allows the gathering of various herbs, and the Alchemy profession allows the creation of various potions for use. Health potions will often save your life, but there are also potions of defense, agility, regen potions and more. However, keep in mind that healing potions will drop from mobs or be pick-pocketed too so there are other ways to get them. You can even buy some potions from vendors. Additionally, herbalism can be used to acquire two herbs of particular importance to rogues: Fadeleaf, which is used to make Blinding Powder for the blind ability, and Swiftthistle, used in the creation of Thistle Tea. ; Mining & Blacksmithing : Somewhat useful. Mining allows you to get the resources required for blacksmithing. You can then smith yourself your own weapons - great! Sadly, as a sneaky rogue, chain and plate armour are of no use to you, but they do sell well! ; Mining & Jewelcrafting : The many stat-boosting trinkets you can make in this profession set are useful for a Rogue, because in the lower levels Stamina and Defense are important. The Rings and Trinkets also sell for a decent amount, too. ; Engineering : Engineering is also pretty useful - you can make yourself some dynamite and a number of other handy gadgets. Best coupled with mining, as it is heavily reliant on metals. However, most engineering items require engineering to use, so you're less likely to make lots of money from this trade. (Guns are one notable exception to this). Engineering does, however, allow for the creation of practice locks, which are useful for leveling up your lockpicking skill. ; Skinning & Leatherworking : Another useful rogue profession! Skinning is required to get the resources required for leatherworking. With leatherworking you can produce leather patches for armor, to boost their armor rating, and you can also produce your own leather armor. This works well with the rogue, as all of their armor is leather-based. Start your profession early! It's usually not too expensive, and you want to ensure that the gear you create with your skills is applicable to your rogue's level. Secondary Professions * Cooking * Fishing * First Aid As a Rogue you have 4 ways to heal: Time, Eating, Potions, and First Aid. Fishing is useful in that it provides you with something to cook, but fishing takes lots of time an is not recommended for those who wish to level up fast. Cooking should be trained up to at least skill 60, so you can make Thistle Tea, a drink which instantly restores your energy in the heat of battle. Cooking also allows you to make better food than may be otherwise available, although in practice you can normally find plenty of food from monsters, doing quests, or asking a friendly mage. First Aid is indispensable to a rogue, as it can really reduce your down-time between fights when soloing, and can also help reduce the strain on your healers when in a group. In addition, a common tactic is to use gouge during combat. During the opponents down time, you can use your bandages while in combat for a quick life boost. This is easier with the "gouge macro" Lockpicking Some good info at the official WoW forums: * Lockpicking FAQ Early on you might get some Practice Locks from an engineer to increase your lockpicking, but at low levels you won't want or need it much. The best chance to get your skill up to snuff will be around 15th level in a place called Alther's Mill in the Redridge Mountains region. Horde rogues will want to attend one of the pirate ships on the eastern coast of the Barrens, south of Ratchet. Long-Term Goals Rogues are not very weapon-dependent. They are cooldown-dependent. Most rogue attacks have static damage or a heavy element of static damage is applied to them (the difference between a backstab with a lvl 1 white dagger and a top-of-the-line level 60 epic one is only about 150 damage (400 crit). Nevertheless, it is important to ensure you're always using the best weapons available for your level (and budget!) You need every damage point you can inflict! - use Wowhead to search for weapons you might want to look out for. Keep them in good repair, as the rogue's fast attacks tend to wear down their weapons faster than most other classes. Decide where you want to go with your Rogue Talents, as these can make a big difference to the way you'll play your rogue past level 10. They may also have a big influence on what weapon types you want to stick with. Links Rogue Gear Guide Rogue Tactics Rogue,Starting Rogue,Starting